, 1887-04-14
CANCER CAN BE cuRep.
Operations serve In Every Case To Pro-
long Lifc-Intcresting Statistics.

Operations serve In Every Case to Pro-
long Lifc-Intcresting Statistics.
h question whether or not cancer is
durable by operation is one of vital I'M
portancn to those who may have the dis
case. !; is popularity supposed to be in
durable. but satisfies provo hat il is not
SO. In estimating the value # operations
for canccr we must consider tho duration
of the disease when left to itself. Pagct.
in 1870 cases, gives tho duration of life in
10 not operated upon as 4S months, while
in the remaining Ga, where or mcrs
operations had been performed, the hfe
average was SO months. Sibley. in 81
cases, makes the average 30 months in
cases not operated upon, and - months
in cases where e2cision was piacticcd.
The longest duration of life in cases not
operated upon is l2 years, in thos. oper-
ated upon Is years. While these statis-
tics go to prove that operation prolongs
life. they do not prove an ultimate cure.
DIR. Oldekop shows in his report that ont
Of 220 cases where operations had been
performed % recovered. DR.. Willard
Parker believed in operations for the dis
ease. In a paper read before the Medical
Journal association III September, 1873,
he reports IA cases of cure by excision,
the patients being in good health at the
ends of periods varying from . to 81 years.
A mass OF statistics might be brought
to show that in many INSTANCES cancer
has been radically cured, and ia other
cases life has been indefinitely prolonged
by the use OF the knife. A few special
cases will serve to show this. Dir. Weir
reports a case in which tho right breast
NplG anpnptataI hv IN. Tonar - Mood
in 1856. In 1867 DR.. Post a%inputated
the left breast. In 1878 DIR. Weir re-
moved u recurrent growth from the right
side, and again in 1877 and 1880, tho pa
tient finally dying of the disease 20 years
after its first appearance. DR.. Frank II.
Hamilton operated upon u patient who
survived tho excision 20 years, and an
other patient of his. whose breast wa3 en-
tircly removed, survived the operation for
10 years. Cases of this description might
be multiplied. DIR. Shrady, Gen. Grants
physician, claims that the disease is or
ganic, and in no way hereditary. He be-
lieves tina its origin is local, and is there
fore removable, and that the constitution
becomes affected only secondarily by q
more or less widespread dissemination of
original cancer germs. The failure Of
one cXclSlon to affect a cure III no wlso
d%isconcerts him. The disease is insidious.
and a careful microscopic examination is
necessary to follow its various ramifica-
tons. Where the growth is not in prox-
unity to the vital organs, operation after
operation may be tried with impunity.
In the case of Gen. Grant, the entire
throat was affected and an operation
meant certain death, otherwise an opera
ton would have been tried. 1t is all ex-
cepAon for more than one member of a
family to become the victim of cancer.
In fact it may be confidently said that no
human being can be sure of escaping the
disease until lie has passed the age OF its
occurrence, which is when his vital ma
c%ninery is entirely worn out. In other
words he can ever be considered fortunate
in respect to cancer until he is dead.-
New York Mail and Express.